San Jose: Stadium Deal Getting Worked Out

Here is something that ALL San Jose Earthquake fans can enjoy. City officials said on Monday they worked out details on a $132 million deal to build a professional soccer stadium near Mineta International Airport.

If approved, it will help make way for an 18,000-seat stadium as well as retail, offices and a hotel. The best news is the stadium could be ready as early as 2010.

San Jose Earthquakes owner Lew Wolff has agreed to pay $132 million for 66 acres of the former FMC manufacturing plant, about 18 of which will be set aside for the stadium and parking. The city bought the land in 2005 for $81 million.

Wolff plans to pay for the deal using proceeds from a development in Edenvale. He needs the city to rezone 78 acres of commercial and industrial property he owns there for residential development. That would open that property for construction of an estimated 1,500 townhomes.

As we all know getting a stadium in San Jose is easily the thing that this club has to take care of right now before it drags on too long. The biggest reason why the Quakes were first moved out of the city was due to their stadium situation, so a lingering stadium situation now won’t help. But Wolff is working very hard, if not a lot harder than AEG ever did to get a deal in place and ready to go as soon as possible.

I would be willing to bet that this will go through and this club will be playing in a brand new stadium before long.